Last month, we welcomed Neala to the team as our Southwestern Ontario Farmland Protection Coordinator as part of our Farmland Protection and Stewardship Program. In her role, she’ll lead stewardship activities, new and ongoing farmland protection projects, and cultivate strong community partnerships across the region, from as far east as Waterloo Region to as far west as Essex and as far north as Bruce County.
Here are a few words from Neala:
Hi OFT Community!
I’m Neala MacLeod Farley, and I am joining OFT as the new Farmland Protection Coordinator for Southwestern Ontario.
I have always loved being outdoors, whether on farms or in forests, and my interests in ecology, agriculture, and nutrition led me to study agricultural and environmental sciences at McGill University. I majored in Global Food Security and minored in International Agriculture, including four months’ worth of field courses in Panama. I then completed a Master of Environmental Studies with the Laurier Centre for Sustainable Food Systems, through which I had the exciting opportunity to work with a Dene community in the Northwest Territories on food sovereignty-related projects. Studying Indigenous worldviews and spending time in the community gave me new perspectives on our collective responsibility to the land and to future generations. I strive to always remember that we are not separate from nature, but interdependent with the ecosystems that sustain us.
Our interconnectedness with the land is something that I innately felt growing up on a hobby farm in Kerns Township, where I enjoyed playing with our horses and goats, climbing trees, and picking wild blueberries. We later moved to a property just outside of Owen Sound, where the Niagara Escarpment made up our fourth fenceline and the Bruce Trail was at our doorstep. I often felt most at peace after climbing onto the barn roof, avoiding rusty nails and wasp nests along the way, to sit and look out over the property. Despite the complaints I made as a teenager, picking rocks out of the pasture or attempting to tackle a small forest worth of burdock, I loved growing up in the country. I find it hard to imagine a childhood without these experiences and I am so grateful for the opportunity to help protect Ontario’s natural and agricultural landscapes for generations to come.
Outside of work, some of my favourite things include gardening, good conversations, campfires with friends, and being on the water.